Low Hydrogen Embrittlement (LHE) Zinc-Nickel (Zn—Ni) plating is used as a sacrificial protective coating on high strength steel (HSS, i.e. steel alloys such as 300M, 4330, 4340, etc., with an ultimate tensile strength of 180 KSI or higher) landing gear alloys to prevent corrosion. The HSS alloys used in landing gear component applications corrode rapidly if exposed to the environment without sacrificial plating like LHE Zn—Ni. Therefore it is a design requirement that HSS alloys used in landing gear be protected from corrosion attack via sacrificial plating. The plating must also be porous enough to allow hydrogen to be baked out after the plating process is completed. LHE Zn—Ni has been developed over the past eight years and is an environmentally friendly and non-hydrogen embrittling replacement for cadmium. All non-wear surfaces, both internal and external, of HSS landing gear components must be LHE Zn—Ni plated to protect them from corrosion.
LHE Zn—Nil plating is typically performed by immersing the part to be coated in an electrolyte bath, such as Dipsol of America's, IZ-C17+, LHE Zn—Ni electrolyte plating solution. The part to be plated is electrically connected to the cathode of a direct current power source. A source of ionizing nickel is placed in the electrolyte bath and is electrically connected to the anode of the direct current power source.